Wrexham, the Welsh non-league club owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, stand 90 minutes away from achieving their ultimate goal: promotion.
A victory over Boreham Wood on Sunday (3:30am AEST) will end Wrexham’s 15-year exile from the English Football League (EFL) with one game to spare in the National League thanks to a 3-0 win over Yeovil Town last Wednesday.
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And the Welsh side has the chance to do it all in front of their passionate fans at The Racecourse.
Securing promotion would be the culmination of what has been one of the most enthralling title races and seasons the National League has ever witnessed.
Wrexham and second-placed Notts County have shared top spot a staggering 14 times over the course of the season.
Phil Parkinson’s side have also broken several records throughout and can now lay claim to the most points accrued in a single season (107 and counting), most goals scored (112 and counting), most wins (33 and counting) as well as fewest defeats (three).
Granted, there is an argument to be made that Wrexham have bought promotion given their ability to invest heavily on recruitment and bring players from higher leagues down to the fifth tier on big wages.
It’s also cruel on Notts County who have pushed Wrexham to the absolute limit this season without the backing of Hollywood actors and the big-money sponsorship that comes with such association
But there can be no denying Wrexham’s story has captured the hearts of not just the city itself, but of football and non-football fans across the globe.
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The TV show Welcome To Wrexham helped spread the word and story of the club, even if the conclusion of season one was a failure when it came to promotion.
Yet season two could have a significantly happier ending if all goes to plan against Boreham Wood on Sunday.
Foxsports.com.au takes a look at all the scenarios facing Wrexham in the final two games of the season and how Parkinson’s troops can get the promotion party started.
HOW DO WREXHAM GO UP?
Going into Wrexham’s clash against Boreham Wood, there are two fixtures left in the National League season.
Wrexham, the league leaders, sit on a staggering 107 points.
In second place, Notts County is on 103 points.
A win for Wrexham against Boreham Wood would take the Reds to 110 points and guarantee promotion, because even if Notts County win their penultimate league game against last-placed Maidstone United, a four-point gap with one game to go would remain.
Wrexham could also have promotion sewn up before they even take to the park as Notts County play Maidstone United three-and-a-half hours earlier.
Should Notts County lose, it would mean the four-point gap remains and Wrexham can dream of promotion without needing to win.
Put simply, promotion is in Wrexham’s hands.
WHISPER IT QUIETLY … BUT COULD WREXHAM BOTTLE PROMOTION?
Wrexham surely can’t lose it from here, right?
Wrong.
It would be an almighty collapse for the expensively-assembled team, but it’s very much a possibility.
Here’s how.
If Notts County beat Maidstone United, a result that seems a given based on the latter’s position on the ladder, it will decrease the gap at the top to one point.
With Wrexham due to play Boreham Wood three-and-a-half hours after Notts’ game, they will be well aware of their promotion rivals’ result.
Pressure can do funny things and if Notts get a win, Wrexham might just be looking nervously over their shoulders.
Boreham Wood are also no pushovers as the sixth-best team and boast the meanest defence in the National League, conceding a measly 35 goals.
There’s also another world in which Wrexham draw their next two games against Boreham Wood and Torquay United while Notts County beat both Maidstone United and York City.
Should that happen, both teams will end up on 109 points.
But, as it stands, Notts have the superior goal difference with +72 compared to Wrexham’s +71.
That would mean Notts go up automatically to League Two while Wrexham must slog it out in the lottery that is the National League play-offs for a second-straight season.
There’s also a cruel, cruel world in which Wrexham lose both their games.
Again, it hinges on what happens in Notts’ game against Maidstone, but a Notts win and a Wrexham loss means the former would be just one point behind the league-leaders with a game to go.
If Wrexham then goes on to lose to Torquay and Notts beat or draw with York City, that would also see Notts going up to the fourth tier of English football and Wrexham stuck in the play-offs.
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Regardless of Sunday’s outcome, Reynolds and McElhenney’s second full season as Wrexham owners has thrown up some of the most memorable moments in the club’s history.
They came agonisingly close to a quarter-final appearance in the FA Cup and Ben Foster’s last-gasp penalty heroics in a 3-2 victory against Notts County only a few weeks ago will be talked about for years to come to name just two.
But a victory against Boreham Wood will eclipse all of those in a season of dreams and one that’ll make for gripping viewing in season two of Welcome To Wrexham, even if we know how the story ends.
